


Until The End

by BaconAndEggs



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Character Death, F/F, Minor Character Death, Other, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-09 01:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8869831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaconAndEggs/pseuds/BaconAndEggs
Summary: When the world is abruptly launched into a state of chaos as a deadly virus is released during an accident, Laura Hollis must find a way to survive at all costs. Yet, what happens when Laura and her rag-tag group of friends stumble upon another mysterious group of survivors? Can they escape the frenzied butchery and brutal massacres? No one knows. But as Laura and her group join the pack of survivors, an unlikely relationship begins to form.





	1. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter and following chapters will include depictions of violence and gore.

_Darkness._

_Soaking up the surroundings in a mere manner of seconds. Flowing and gliding around like a wave, but more deadly. A wave of death. Everything is covered in the dripping darkness except a bloodcurdling beast, its face sunken and battered, coated from head to toe in a dried crimson substance. The syrupy liquid is imbedded beneath long, yellow tinted curling finger nails and in its dark wiry hair. It raises an arm and slashes viciously like its life depended on it._

_Slash._

_It continues to brutally lunge, swipe and bite, each attack uncoordinated but life-threatening._

_Another slash._

_This time was with more force, as if the creature is getting stronger and stronger. It’s impossible to move or breathe with the darkness still engulfing everything. Hands and arms were still onslaught aggressively._

_Another slash._

_It’s impossible to survive this. There is no escape._

_Another slash._

_No escape._

_Another slash… again… and again… and again…_

***

Laura wakes up, dripping with sweat, in a blaze of panic and terror. She wipes a grimy hand across her brow and attempts to control her unsteady breaths. Releasing her clutch on the midnight coloured pistol, Laura gets up from the potentially bed bug infested mattress that had been messily laid on the dusty oak wood floor the prior night. She makes sure to tip toe carefully around her sleeping friends and heads down the rickety stairs; the floorboards creak slightly as she makes her way down. Laura grasps tightly onto her large camouflage green jacket in a feeble attempt to shield herself from the icy winter air that is biting against her skin. 

Standing in front of the window, Laura gazes off past the dead grass and naked shivering trees. She searches for life but there is nothing. The world is nothing like it was before; everything has been destroyed, broken, people punished for the crimes that they have committed. Styria is now a barren wasteland full of no survivors or living. Only the dead. 

Laura closes her eyes and struggles to imagine a universe that she wants to live in. Nothing is really worth fighting for, not really. People were telling her that it is but it’s a lie, a fabrication of deceit developed to strengthen our forced hope. Fires of fury and anger are bottled inside of Laura, begging to be opened but she buries them deeper. Despite knowing that all desire to live is lost, that nothing is meaningful, she can’t help but notice the hope that lurks within. It is almost impossible to ignore but Laura learned months ago that to survive in a world like this, she needs to think with her head and not her heart. 

Opening her eyes again, Laura sighs and moves away from the window and into the tiled kitchen for something to eat. The cupboards were practically bare. 

 _We need to go on a supply run_ , Laura thinks as she snatches a small energy bar, mainly because it’s the only thing that she can reach without climbing onto the counter, and takes a large mouthful. Leaning against the counter, she inhales deeply before closing her eyes and imagines the same thing as every morning. Things that keep her alive. Her dad, her friends, hope. 

“Hey frosh?” Laura’s eyes flash open and she almost lunges at the small ginger-haired figure poking their head around the doorframe. They hold their hands up in a mock surrender and Laura tilts her head, furrowing her brow slightly.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that you know, LaF,” she mutters, taking another bite of her energy bar, “especially not this early in the morning.”

“Come on Laura, who else do you know calls you frosh?” They say, brushing past Laura to snatch a similar looking energy bar from the cupboard. The pair stand in silence for a few minutes before LaFontaine speaks again, clearing their throat first.

“I was thinking that we should go on a supply run soon. Maybe head up the hill and see if Station Avenue has any shops that haven’t already been raided, you know.” 

Laura toys with the idea for a few seconds. “Yeah but we’ve never been over there before; who knows what kind of crazy lives on that side of town.”

“We’ve seen enough crazy on this side…” LaFontaine says, quieter now. They play absentmindedly with their fingers while staring at their ripped black converses. 

“LaF…” Laura trails off and is about to speak again when she is interrupted by an abruptly perky voice from upstairs.

“That’s Perry,” LaFontaine states stoically, “I’ll go check to see if she’s okay.” They walk hastily out of the kitchen and before Laura has time to respond, she is left, once more, alone with her thoughts. She takes the time to snatch a map from the table opposite the counter and opens it, running her grimy fingers along each road, memorising them in depth. She’s been doing runs so often that Laura is certain that she could illustrate each road in her mind but she has to do something to keep herself distracted. 

_No time to stop and think. No. Too dangerous._

She traces the most efficient routes to places with the most useful supplies countless times before she hears shuffling and footsteps heading down the stairs. 

“Hey Laura, you’re planning a supply run now, aren’t you?” Perry asks, walking round the kitchen door into view alongside LaFontaine.

“Uh—” Laura is cut off when Perry speaks quickly over her.

“Great, we were thinking that we should all go. To maximise probability of collecting equipment most likely to assist us, right?” She gestured to LaFontaine. Laura figures that she is pretty much quoting LaF but she shrugs it off and says, raising her head from the map it is practically buried in.

“Yeah, I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t want us to have to wait for anyone or risk someone getting hurt.”

“Laura, we’re all pretty capable of handling ourselves now. We’ve lived in this world for the same amount of time as you.” Betty says, jumping into the conversation as she, Sarah Jane and Natalie round the corner. 

Laura bites her lip briefly, debating whether to agree to the plan. She sighs after a short while and nods. The rest of the group look around pleased.

“But…” Laura interjects into the hushed mutters. “You all need to listen to me and we need to be safe.” 

 

*** 

 

After an hour of establishing the plan and collecting the necessary equipment, Laura needs a break. She doesn’t particularly enjoy leading the group, yet she still has the burning need to protect everyone. While everyone else is downstairs in the kitchen, Laura heads upstairs and looks out the window, sitting on the floor, pistol in her hand.

The rattling echo of a gunshot was something that Laura thinks she had been familiarised with over these past few months, however the wringing blast and following panicked shrieks in the morning were never good signs. She leaps from the ground and, wrapping a grime-covered finger around the trigger of her gun, and scurries down the stairs. 

  
She almost reaches the bottom step as an unfortunately misplaced foot causes her to slip and crash painfully onto the ground. Laura quickly rises and attempts to regain her balance.  
  
“Don’t move…” A steady voice hisses into her ear, pushing what Laura assumes to be a pistol underneath her lower jaw and wrapping her free arm around Laura’s neck. A greasy lock of red hair falls onto her shoulder as Laura’s aggressor pushes the firearm harder against her unkempt skin.

Laura attempts to concentrate on steadying her breath, desperately avoiding to show any sign of weakness or fear. The screams from before seemed to have silenced into hushed voices, much to Laura’s approval.

“Danny?” Grumbles an authoritative sounding voice from the hallway. “Let her go and get in here.”

The cool breaths of air which were blowing against her neck disappear as the grip on Laura's neck is removed and a hand shoves into her shoulder, signalling for her to follow the man’s command. Laura obeys reluctantly as the girl, apparently named Danny, sweeps her gun off of the floor and into the back pocket of her trousers, which are covered in rips and dried blood.  
As Laura hesitantly walks into the hallway, joining the rest of her group, the man who supposedly commanded for her release, signals for her to stand with the others. She takes a spot next to LaFontaine and leans silently against the wall.  
  
“My name’s Theo and here’s how this is gonna be…” The man says as he runs a hand through his thick dark hair. But the bulge in his back pocket is quite evident; forming an obvious gun-shaped object that makes Laura fidget uneasily.  
  
“We’re not here to hurt you and honestly-” he pauses to look around and gestures at the hovel that Laura and her group have been taking cover in “-You look like you might need a hand so we propose that we join together.”  
  
Laura feels LaFontaine shift nervously beside her as she begins feeling quite fearful herself. This wasn’t the first time that they had met up with another pack of survivors and the last time hadn’t ended so smoothly. She chews the inside of her lip apprehensively, considering the man’s proposal although it felt like there isn’t really an option to choose from.  
  
The girl that had jumped Laura before is leaning on the opposing wall, maintaining steady eye contact with her. Her trousers are ripped, exposing the pale skin beneath and her hair is long and dirty, resting slightly below her shoulders in red locks.   
  
Laura awkwardly shifts her gaze away from the tall girl and back onto the man who is now walking towards Laura. He tilts his head and looks at her for a moment.

“We’ve got a place. A good place with food, water, beds and despite my protests, we’re recruiting. So do you wanna come take a look?”

Laura eyes up the man and the rest of his group. They look well-fed and pretty groomed regarding the current state of their world. She sighs. _There isn’t much choice._

Laura nods reluctantly. “Okay, but I’m not saying we’ll stay. But we’ll take a look.”

The man, _Theo_ ; she thinks, smirks and walks back into the centre, clapping his hands together. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a deal, boys."  
  
LaFontaine's voice is quiet and discreet as they bring their filthy face closer to Laura’s ear, their poorly groomed red hair tickling her neck as they whisper, “Do you trust that guy?”. They chew their lip as Laura shrugs.

“I don’t know.”

 

***

  
“Okay, okay” Theo sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose impatiently. “We’re ready to go, right?  
  
“Yup! All good, Theo.” A large man, his features reminding Laura of an oversized puppy, interjects, brushing a hand through his thick brown hair. He takes the pistol out of his pocket and loads it briefly before grinning. Theo withholds the temptation to yell at the boy for interrupting his pep-talk, again, and flicks his vision towards the rest of the group.

Theo snatches a smooth silver dagger from the nearby table along with a small pistol. He peers out of the grimy window next to the door before flinging the door wide open and tip-toeing out carefully; beckoning everyone to follow. Laura brings her knife close to her side as she sneaks out the door, behind LaFontaine. Danny holds a wooden baseball bat that appeared to have several sharp nails embedded within the wood. Another boy walks closely behind Laura, holding a sharpened machete, that glistens in the morning sunlight. Laura ignores the blood-red stains on the tip and handle of the boy’s machete as she turns back around to face the back of LaFonatine.  
  
Laura’s fingers grasp the sharpened dagger as the group ducks behind a blue truck which is crashed onto its side, missing the passenger door and all of the glass from its windows. The wrecked vehicle sits parallel to the gas station that is unfortunately being guarded by a pack of the dead, devouring disembodied limbs with the few of their own that remain. Perry's eyes widen with terror, still unaccustomed to the horrors that her eyes are currently glued to. Finally she manages to tear her head away from the inhumane display and rests her head and against the truck of the car.  
  
Laura shudders as she copies Perry, peering around the corner to find the flagitious creatures wandering aimlessly in front of the entrance. She brings her head back from around the corner and towards Danny. She is holding out Laura's gun that she had taken earlier and Laura raises an eyebrow skeptically at her, causing Danny to shrug.  
  
“You might need it,” she whispers as Laura takes the gun out of her hand.  
  
Danny spins around to Theo, who was already waiting for the moment to crash the metallic knife into a skull. 

“Okay, on five, we attack whatever moves and isn’t alive.”He holds up five fingers, signalling when the group should follow his lead and run past the gas station.

4… 3… 2… 1!  
  
The gang springs abruptly from their shelter. 

The tall puppy-like boy was the first to make contact, swinging an axe directly against the centre of the nearby creature’s head, causing it to drop solidly to the ground. Before spinning around to see Danny crashing her lethal bat against a distorted face and then smacking the back of its head as its legs buckle.  
  
Laura decides to take a more stealthy approach by launching a dagger into the back of a walker’s head before it has any time to react. However, before the creature crashes to the ground, it lets out a distorted gurgle that attracts the attention of several other lurkers. Three of them start lazily wobbling towards her, while the other two go towards LaFontaine. Laura braces herself, gripping the handle of her weapon as if her life depended on it. Because it does. She throws her knife into the fleshy scalp of one of the walkers before speedily whipping out her gun and aiming it at another’s face. Laura pulls the trigger several times. Nothing happens.  
  
Danny swings her weapon lucidly at the monster in front of her as a scream of terror fills the air. She spins around to see LaFontaine being pinned to the floor, two lurkers attempting to claw at their face; begging for a taste of flesh. They smash a dagger into one of the creature’s faces and push the other back. Danny is about to dash towards them with her trusty bat in hand as she notices the girl backing into a wall of the gas station, three creatures — one with a dagger embedded in its face — crawling towards her.   
  
Laura feels time slow down as her heart thuds loudly in her ears. Another shriek pierces the air as a dead creature sinks it’s decaying teeth into someone’s leg, the boy who had been walking right behind Laura. Danny aims her gun and shoots three bullets, each one hitting the back of a walker’s head and crumbling to the floor, leaving a pool of blood where they land.

“We have to go!” Theo yells at the essentially irresponsive group. Laura snatches LaFontaine’s wrist and pulls them up and back into reality as the gang dash away from the gas station; their legs aching as they sprint faster than ever before. The air is thick but cold and the wind whips ruthlessly at Laura’s face, showing no mercy. The crowd darts between wrecked and discarded vehicles, avoiding the scattered broken pieces of glass and disembodied mangled limbs.  
  
They speed around the corner of an abandoned corner shop which has already been looted of all its treasures. The forest is approaching rapidly now while the band of survivors sprint down the pavement alongside a crumbled block of houses. All the houses appear empty due to the ripped and overturned furniture that Laura notices through the smashed glass windows.

Frantic panting fills the silence as the gang slows in front of an enigmatic looking forest. They stand for a while, no one daring to speak or acknowledge that their group is missing a person. Laura leans against the wall and looks around. LaFontaine is silently trying to comfort a fearful looking Perry while she inhales desperately.  

 _This is my fault. We shouldn’t have gone with them. Someone is dead. That person was someone’s brother, friend, son, lover. All gone. A lifetime to be destroyed in an instant._  

Theo finally breaks the silence, however, he lacks the smug tone that he spoke with before. Instead, his voice is more monotonous.

“It’s just up ahead. Come on, let’s go.” No one seems to move so he speaks louder. “I said let’s go! Do you want to be left behind?”

Everyone mutters and grumbles slightly but obeys and follows Theo’s lead as he paces, swaying his arms slightly, towards the forest. Laura stays near the back of the pack, clutching her weapons even harder now; her knuckles are beginning to turn white. The forest bed is coated in dense layers of mud and leaves, making walking in it harder than on the pavements. Trees tower high and brush against each other in the breeze while the dying bushes on the ground rustle.

_I never should have agreed. I knew this would happen again… Stupid, stupid, stupid…_

“Open the gate Mel!” Danny shouts in a commanding tone. Laura jumps slightly as she was so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed the large sheets of corrugated iron and wooden beams stretching up to form a wall. The barriers are covered in shrubbery and moss near the bases and vines crawls up the logs holding the walls in place. Two people stand on the guard towers, one on each side of the gate. The gate swings open and Danny motions for them to head inside. 

The place immediately takes Laura by surprise. Lots of houses line the curved road leading alongside the wall. Directly in front of the gate is a dormant fountain with two paths leading around it, forming a large circle of concrete around the base of the fountain. On the other side of the fountain is large patches of soil with various plants beginning to peak out of the ground, some wrapping around wooden sticks in the dirt. The road travels further, going around the wall to an area that Laura cannot see from the entrance.

“Welcome to Silas.” Says Danny, smiling to Laura and her friends.

“Wow, this place is impressive.” Perry states, looking around, taking interest in the farm area.

“Yeah, we’ve been building it up since… Well, you know, and everything looks pretty awesome!” Says the puppy-boy excitedly. 

 _Maybe this place won’t be so bad._ Laura thinks to herself, daring to let a her lips upturn slightly at the corners.

“Thank you, Mr Kirsch. It is ‘pretty awesome’.” A woman comes into view. Six-feet of power-suited middle-aged personified terror, topped with a perfectly formed blonde bun on her head, power walking authoritatively towards her. The very presence of her sent a wave of chills down Laura’s spine.

“So, why don’t you lovely ladies join me and we’ll… get to know each other…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! So that was the first chapter of my first fan fiction. I hope you enjoyed and feedback is gladly accepted.  
> I'm not sure of my upload schedule but chapter 2 will be published on Friday 23rd December.
> 
> :))
> 
> If anyone wants to follow or talk to me, you can find me on tumblr at: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/what-thefuck-isthis


	2. Mysterious Strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura and co. have a meeting with the Dean and then meet a mysterious stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter and following chapters may include depictions of violence and gore.

“Come on, children. I don’t bite.” Her tone would have come across as playful if it came from any mouth but hers. Instead, the intimidating embodiment of a nightmare sends a plethora of icy chills down Laura’s spine. Laura clears her throat briefly before speaking.

“Oh! Yes, of course, Mrs…?”

“Miss Morgan, however you may call me The Dean.” The Dean holds her head high when she speaks, proud of her frightening aura. “I shall take you to my apartment where we can chat. Individually, of course.”

Laura, LaFontaine, Perry, Betty, SJ and Natalie all follow The Dean down the pristine pavement, leaving Kirsch, Danny and Theo behind near the entrance. As they walk along the houses, Laura notices lots of people inside; sitting, talking, cooking, even laughing, acting as if they haven’t a care in the world. 

_What I would give to be carefree…_

Abruptly, The Dean stops in front of a particularly substantial home with soaring dark wood and immaculately clean brick walls, polished black window frames complete with a peaked and tiled roof. The door is jet-black; a small metallic door-knocker perches in the upper-middle sector of the door which The Dean knocks rapidly, three times. A tall hardened looking boy appears in the doorway and greets them.

“Hello Mother. I see you’ve brought some guests.” His mannerisms are well polished and he looks quite handsome yet Laura is slightly uncomfortable around the boy, for reasons she can’t place her finger on.

Everyone steps into the house and Laura is instantaneously taken aback by the beauty of the entrance. The floor is made of an elegant dark wood that contrasts well with the rich red wallpaper; the ceiling stretches up high, revealing a glistening glass chandelier that hangs proudly on the second story ceiling. Paintings are neatly hung at measured intervals across the asymmetrical room. A grand stair case is seen to the left of the room that reaches up to present a balcony area leading to other rooms, hidden away behind closed doors.

“Good morning William; yes, I need you to be an exceptional host for these lovely ladies while I interview the leader.” She addresses Laura’s group when she speaks. Laura assumes that she’ll be the one to speak to The Dean as all of her friends shrink back slightly. She sighs and says,

“You’ll need to speak to me then Miss Dean. I wouldn’t really say that I’m a leader, I mean, I usually make the plans but I’d like to think that my friends can do things for themselves, you know?” Laura clasps her mouth shut to stop herself from rambling further.

The Dean smiles crookedly. “Very well, Miss…?”

“Hollis. Um, Laura Hollis.”

“Miss Hollis… Wonderful. Run along then William. Bring our guests into the lounge while I show Miss Hollis into my office.” William brings everyone but Laura into a room off to the left of the entrance through a curved doorway. 

Departing from her friends, Laura follows The Dean up the staircase and onto the second floor landing. They then turn down a corridor and enter the room at the very end. The surprisingly heavy door opens to a big rectangular room. Deep purple coats the sections of the walls that can be seen between the huge wooden bookshelves; a myriad of vibrant books rest carefully on every inch of the shelves. On one side, next to a collection of bookcases, rests a long red sofa and in the middle of the room, on top of a carpet with mesmerising swirling patterns, is a dark oak desk, facing the door. Two comfy-looking red arm chairs are directed at the desk and a taller copper chair sits in front of them.

“Please take a seat,” says The Dean, smiling with the same crooked smile, lips pressed into a firm line; showing no teeth. Her actions seem emotionless as she gracefully sits onto her chair. Laura hesitantly takes seat in front of her and waits for The Dean to speak. 

“Miss Hollis, as you very well may know, this is Silas. A proud organisation that has been standing since the very beginning of the outbreak and will still be standing until the end. Although this place may seem to be a summer vacation but trust me, it is not. I have no tolerance for incompetence and I will make sure that you and every one of your little friends are put to work as soon as you’ve settled in.”

“Yes, I totally understand. We’ll do all we can to help.” Laura forces a smile but it falls when The Dean’s facial expressions harden and she continues talking.

“But before I go making promises of a home, I need to ask you a few questions starting off with, why do you believe that you should stay here?

***

“Thank you, Miss Hollis. I think that you and your companions will fit in quite nicely here at Silas.”

“Oh, you can call me Laura. ‘Miss Hollis’ seems very formal.” Laura smiles again as she stands and goes to leave.

“I hope that you settle in quickly because we’ve got a lot of work to do around here.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

“Thank you, Miss Hollis.” Laura hides her frown as she scurries out of the office, making sure to close the door, and down the stairs. She arrives at the bottom step and sees LaFontaine waiting for her. They look at Laura with hopeful eyes so Laura gives them a smile alongside a nod.

“We’re staying?” LaFontaine seems more excited than Laura anticipated they would. 

_Maybe we all need this._

“Yeah, but the Dean-lady still freaks me out a bit so I wouldn’t get in her way if I were you.” Laura does find The Dean intimidating. The way that she sets a room to ice when she enters, or the way her crooked smiles always lack emotion behind her dead eyes. 

“Ah, Miss LaFontaine, I’d like for you and Miss Hollis to join me and the others in the living room if you will.” The Dean says this as she appears at the top of the stairs. LaFontaine shifts uncomfortably and bites the inside of their lip. Once The Dean is almost at the bottom step, LaFontaine speaks.

“Uh, actually, I’m non-binary. So, I’d actually prefer if you used they/them pronouns.” Their voice is quieter than normal and timid. The Dean frowns for a second.

“Very well then, however, I still need you to accompany me to the living area.” 

“Oh yeah, thats cool.” They blurt out before trailing behind The Dean into the living room where the other members of their group reside. 

Laura continues to be in awe with the majestic rooms she keeps finding herself in. The room is quite narrow but very long, with more priceless artwork hanging on all the walls. The floor is the same wooden pattern as in the hallway except in this room, a large red intricately patterned carpet covers most of the floor. A substantially large fireplace resides in the centre of the wall opposite the doorway. It’s beautiful black marble texture blends well with the theme of the room and matches the base of a lamp on the table. The three sofas are in a rectangular arrangement around the fireplace and a comfortable looking armchair is in the corner of the room. Laura and her group cram onto two sofas between them while The Dean and Will sit together on the other. 

“I’m pleased to welcome you all as residents of Silas but, as Miss Hollis and I have discussed, you must earn your place here. I know little about you all however as we have some vacancies in our productions, I will need you to fill them quickly.” She pauses to look around; everyone is silent. The Dean points to Laura and LaFontaine.

“You two will be working on the wall.” She then directs her long wrinkled finger to Perry. “And you, Miss…?”

“Lola Perry; It’s nice to meet you Miss Dean.” Perry’s voice is her usual upbeat tone. Evidently she doesn’t feel the same feeling of unease as Laura and LaF.

“Miss Perry can work in the store room and the rest of you can work on cleaning duty.” There is an internal groan between everyone but no one dares to argue. The Dean brushes a hand over her neat skirt to iron out any wrinkles and turns slightly to the boy next to her. He straightens his posture to match hers. Laura suddenly notices how out of place she must look compared to them and becomes self-conscious about her grimy ruined clothes.

“William, be a dear would you and show our residents to their workplace.” She smiles, more warmly than she did earlier to Laura, yet still lacking a certain glow. 

“Yes, Mother; let’s go then.” He gets up and everyone but The Dean mimics his actions and follow him out the lounge and outside. They walk a different way than before, going off the main road and onto a gravel path leading to a shed and a collection of benches outside, complete with various tools and other equipment. Two other people are sawing or nailing pieces of wood and don’t bat an eyelid at the newcomers. Will gestures at the wall near the benches.

“This section needs reinforcement so this is where you guys can work.” He nods towards Laura and LaFontaine and he’s about to speak again when Perry gets there first.

“What, there’s no safety or guide telling them what to do? What if they get hurt?” 

“Yeah, my sister is _supposed_ to be here but she’s disappeared,” Will looks around a sighs loudly, “she’ll be here soon, just do whatever until she gets back.” He looks as if this happens pretty much daily judging by his tired expression. Perry looks as if she is about to continue to worry but before she can, Will whisks her and the others away, leaving Laura and LaF alone with essentially no clue of what to do. They look at each other for a seconds before Laura shrugs and goes over to one of the people at the table.

“Hey, we’re new here so can you tell us what we’re actually supposed to do?” The person looks up slowly, revealing a painful looking scar on his left cheek down to his jaw. Laura eyes it before flicking her eyes away.

“Did I scare you already, love? This is nothing; you should see the other one.” His voice is gruff and Laura reddens and leaves while mumbling a string of apologies. She heads over to a bench where LaF is already looking over some papers they found and trying not to laugh at Laura’s embarrassment. Laura snatches a similar looking blueprint and tries to figure it out. The words and lines just look like spaghetti to Laura as she spins the blueprint round and knits her brows.

“You seem confused cupcake.” Laura whips around to see a figure wearing all black standing at the top of the wall, smirking at her complete failure to figure out the blueprints. The person jumps down. “Need a hand?”

Now Laura can see her clearly, she eyes the figure. The girl is wearing a long thick coat, a black t-shirt with some white script written on it, ripped black jeans accompanied by studded biker boots. Her hair is wavy and covers the side of her face slightly. She tilts her head and Laura realises that she hasn’t even responded, but rather just stared at the stranger.

“Uh yeah, I don’t really know what I’m doing…” Laura mumbles embarrassed and the mysterious girl laughs and walks up to her bench, leaning on the opposite side to Laura with her hands resting either side. The girl looks Laura up and down for a minute before Laura clears her throat and speaks.

“What are you doing?” 

The stranger smirks. “Trying to figure you out.”

“I hardly think you can do that from one glance.” Laura huffs and goes back to looking at the blueprints.

“You’d be surprised.” She replies.

“Can you just help?” Laura is still refusing to look up at the stranger.

“Ouch, who rattled your cage this morning, creampuff?”

“I just don't want to ruin things for my friends and get kicked out of here because some stranger decides to annoy me instead of help.” Laura thinks she's gotten the girl to stop trying to mess with her as there is no response immediately but when she looks up Laura can see the girl smirking at her.

“This isn’t funny and what’s with the nicknames?” Laura isn’t quite sure why this stranger is still trying to talk to her but she’s attempting, feebly, to mask her frustration

“What else am I supposed to call you?” The girl continues to smirk and leans further over the desk.

Laura furrows her brow and finally looks up, “What?”

“Your name…?”

“Oh, it’s Laura.”

“Laura…” She ponders this for a second, “For some reason I think my nicknames suit you better, cutie.”

“You’re annoying.”

“There are worse things to be.”

“What is your name anyway?”

“Aw, come on, cupcake. That ruins the mystery of this conversation,” she pauses and laughs at Laura’s bunched up little face, “plus I think it’s funny to see you pissed.”

“I’m not pissed,” Laura blurts out but the girl just snickers at her.

“So you don’t care if I don’t tell you my name.” The girl continues to mess with Laura, getting her increasingly more agitated.

“Can you help me or go away?” Laura huffs again.

The girl stands still for a second before sighing and walking around next to where Laura is standing. She stares at Laura for a second before turning the blueprint round the correct way, causing Laura to blush.

“Here,” the girl points to a section, “are the measurements and next to it is the materials and the actual finished wall should end up like this.” She glides her finger across the paper. Laura notices her black painted nails.

“Oh, okay. Thanks,” Laura mutters.

“No problem, cupcake.” The girl begins to walk away but stops in her tracks and turns around.

“Carmilla.”

“What?”

“My name is Carmilla.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom, chapter 2. Chapter 3 will be out sometime in the first week of 2017 so look out for that :))
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and feedback is greatly appreciated. Also, I'd like to thank everyone for reading; I never expected to get as many views as I did so thank you!
> 
> If you'd like to chat, my tumblr is at : https://www.tumblr.com/blog/what-thefuck-isthis


	3. Do Not Disappoint Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang is signed up for wall duty, but things don't go quite as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter and following chapters will include depictions of violence and gore.
> 
> Also another thing to note, this chapter overlaps slightly with the prior however this time, we focus more on Carmilla.

“Carmilla?” Carmilla freezes in her step and slowly turns to face her mother, who was towering over her in a well-rehearsed domineering way. Her tone of calculated menace leaves Carmilla frozen for a few seconds before she regains her typical lackadaisical attitude. 

“Yes, Mother?” Carmilla drawls, folding her arms across her chest and straightening her back slightly. Her stance seems very relaxed, yet she directs a frightening glare at the powerful woman in front of her.

“Why are you not at your job, dear? We had a chat about your behaviour,” she says while keeping her formidable stance. To a passerby, the two must look insane with their menacing stares and glares, both attempting to intimidate the other. 

Carmilla shrugs, “Taking a break.”

“Break time is over; no more tomfoolery.” Carmilla sighs and begins to turn around and leave. She doesn’t believe there is any point in looking over a collection of foolish children just to keep her mother happy. 

_I have better things to do._

“I mean it, Carmilla,” and with that she pivots and power walks in the opposing direction. Carmilla grumbles to herself as she trudges along the overgrown grass towards the sheds. She hears several disgruntled moans coming from outside the fence and frowns. Instead of continuing to the sheds, Carmilla swiftly moves towards the guard post and climbs up the ladder and onto the wooden platform above the walls. 

The walls are build securely and reach up way above Carmilla, stretching to around 8ft, Carmilla guesses, however the rickety wooden platforms would probably collapse if too many people stood on them. Fortunately, the sea of people in Silas meant that mother could click her fingers and a group of people would be ready to re-build them.

“Shit,” Carmilla sighs as she notices a pack of lurchers scraping their fleshy fists up and down the wall and a red liquid is that’s spread across the section where they stand groaning. There is no way for Carmilla to jump down and kill them all without risking getting attacked or unnecessarily wasting ammo. 

Ultimately she decides that’s a problem for who ever is on guard duty later today so she strolls along to platform towards her work area. 

When she arrives at the sheds, Carmilla sees, from her position on the wall, an attractive girl frowning at a large blueprint. She tilts her head and tries to think if she’s ever seen the mysterious girl before. No, she’d definitely remember someone like that.

“You seem confused cupcake.” Carmilla smirks as the girl spins around and looks about for a second before spotting her on top of the wall. Carmilla attempts to jump down as gracefully as she can and raises an eyebrow at the stranger. “Need a hand?”

Carmilla walks up to the bench that the girl is standing at and leans on it opposite her. She looks at her, up and down. Her coat, that looks a few sizes too big, swamps the girl and the rest of her outfit is covered in rips and dirt. Without her black walking boots, Carmilla suspects that the stranger would be only slightly shorter than she is. Her face is hardened with frown lines which probably wouldn’t be there if the world wasn’t in this desperate state. But her eyes. Beautiful glowing honey-coloured orbs that intrigue Carmilla; full of hopes and fears. 

Carmilla blinks and acknowledges the what the girl was saying. She mentally shakes away the idiotic clichés that swarm her mind and replies to the stranger.

The girl huffs and goes back to reading the blueprint which Carmilla notices that she is holding upside down. 

“Can you just help?” The girl is still glaring at the plans and Carmilla thinks if she stares any harder, she’ll burn holes through the paper. 

“Ouch, who rattled your cage this morning, creampuff?” Carmilla smirks but the girl snaps her head up and bitterly responds with a bunched up little face. Carmilla continues to snigger, determined to toy with the stranger for a little longer for reasons even she doesn’t know.

“What else am I supposed to call you?” Carmilla sways slightly closer towards the girl and sees her face in more detail. Light freckles are delicately painted across her face which, Carmilla notes, is incredibly adorable.

“Oh, it’s Laura.” 

_The name suits her._

Carmilla pretends to ponder this for a bit before speaking, “For some reason I think my names suit you better, cutie.

The stranger continues to huff and puff while Carmilla simply smirks and responds, causing the girl to get increasingly more irritated. After a while however, Carmilla decides to put the girl out of her misery and helps her to figure out the plan. Starting by flipping it the right way round, much to the girls embarrassment. Carmilla traces her finger around the blueprints and explains them; she thinks that she can see the girl staring more at her rather than the plan but Carmilla shrugs it off anyway.

“Thanks,” Laura mutters.

“No problem, cupcake.” Carmilla turns around and begins to walk away before stopping and sighing. 

“Carmilla,” she says, causing the girl to look up and frown in confusion at her.

“My name is Carmilla.” And with that, Carmilla spins around again and starts walking away. This time she decides to go a route so she doesn’t hear the lurchers groaning and scrapping their balled fists against the wall and instead walks past the row of houses. Each house was a different pale colour decorated with wooden white window frames and topped with a grey slated roof. On a select few of the houses were brick chimneys, all of them were boarded up but they looked good nonetheless. Most of the houses were in pretty good condition with only several scraps and dents in the walls.

“Hey Kitty,” drawls a voice from behind her. Carmilla sighs and turns around to face her brother with annoyance. He stands there and folds his arms, a smug look on his oh-so punchable face.

“What do you want, Will?” Carmilla snaps.

“Mother told me to tell you—“

“Always were a mummy’s boy weren’t you,” Carmilla interjects, “I already went to the sheds and everything is fine so leave me alone.”

“Actually, Mother needs you to meet you in her office. Mattie is already waiting.” Will smiles smugly and Carmilla would want nothing more than to punch the look clean off his face. Instead she sneers,

“Oh, nice of Mattie to join us for a change.”

Will continues to smile at her and Carmilla clenches her fist and storms off in the direction of her Mother’s house. She can hear Will trailing behind her but, thankfully, he doesn’t say anything else.

Carmilla makes sure to walk faster than Will and to keep her head down as they pass the sheds where the new girl is chatting away to a ginger-haired person. 

_One annoying redhead is enough. I swear if I see one more I’m going to flip._

Carmilla continues to rant to herself internally until they reach the spotless grey steps leading up to the grand house. Carmilla sighs and pauses for a second, waiting for Will to catch up slightly. At least that’s what she tells herself, in actuality she's preparing for another personal chewing-out from her mother.  

“Come on then, Kitty. What are you waiting for?” Will says as he walks past Carmilla and opens the door.

“Maybe if you weren’t so slow, I wouldn’t have to wait,” Carmilla growls back. 

They both ascend the stairs to The Dean’s office; Carmilla drags her dirty shoes across the carpet, leaving a long trail of mud and leaves behind her in the carpet. Will sighs and shakes his head slightly when he sees what she is doing. Carmilla barks a “What?” in response, only to receive another shake of the head. 

Will knocks on the door politely, however doesn’t wait for an answer as he swings the heavy door open. He purses his lips in an uptight smile, which strongly reminds Carmilla of her mother’s, and waits for Carmilla to walk in first. Apprehensively, she walks in and sits on the sofa furthest away from where her mother sits, behind her desk. On one of the chairs facing the desk, sits Mattie and Will places himself on the other.

Briefly brushing out the wrinkles in her dress, the Dean speaks, “Thank you all for joining me.” 

Carmilla has to refrain from making a snarky comment and stays silent. She doesn’t need to get herself into any more trouble.

“We have some new guests living in our home and I need to make sure that they won’t put any of us at risk. We wouldn’t want another incident like before,” the Dean says gravely.

Carmilla frowns as she remembers ‘The Incident’. Lot’s of people died that day and despite her mother’s lack in sympathy for tragic events, she knows that this affected everyone.

“William?”

“Yes, Mother?” He replies, straightening his posturing and smiling blankly at her.

“You will be watching the girl in the store room.”

She turns to Mattie, who is sitting with her legs crossed and more interested in her long red nails than anything her mother is saying.

“Matska, I will need you to check on the girls on cleaning duty. It will not take long out of your day; they… well, let’s just say they will not pose a threat to us.”

Carmilla frowns slightly at this statement. Mother usually doesn’t overlook anyone, whether they look threatening or not; she’s always so thorough.

“Carmilla,” she smiles coldly at her, “You will be watching the girls who are fixing up the wall, since you work and spend _so_ much time there already.” 

 _Great._  

“Carmilla?” Mother interrupts her thoughts. “What have I taught you about not answering when I talk to you, dear?”

“Sorry, Mother,” Carmilla says, looking directly at her mother and into her cold eyes.

“Yes, you are. Now, I’ll need you to guard the wall tonight.”

Carmilla sighs, “Yes, Mother.”

“Tell that tall red-head that she’ll be joining you.”

Carmilla groans internally before answering, “Yes, Mother.”

“And bring one of the girls from the new group, make sure they understand how things work around here.”

“Yes, Mother,” Carmilla replies one final time before her mother dismisses them all with a wave of her hand. 

“Do not disappoint me.”

Once they are outside, Will and Mattie head in different directions. Carmilla glances at the old watch on her wrist. It's light golden hands match beautifully with the gold rim around the outside, with roman numerals neatly arranged inside. Despite the scratched glass and worn out leather wrist strap, Carmilla could never bear to throw it away. 

The time reads 6:21pm. Carmilla sighs, knowing her shift will start in only ten minutes and hastily makes her way to the sheds where she assumes Laura will still be working.

When she begins nearing the work area, she sees a tall red-headed giant chatting away to the girl.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working, Lawrence?” Carmilla snarls as she nears the pair.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m guarding the wall tonight so I’m off early.” Danny bites back, “You would know that if you actually checked the schedule on the notice board.”

“Whatever,” Carmilla doesn’t care enough right now to argue with her so she addresses her attention to Laura, who had been standing awkwardly as they argued.

“It’s your lucky day, creampuff. You’ve got the absolute pleasure of joining Clifford and I on guard duty tonight.”

“You can’t make her do that, it’s her first day.” Danny interjects.

“I’m just following orders,” Carmilla sighs.

“Oh wow, makes a change. And stop with the stupid nicknames.”

Carmilla smirks, “Aw, no can do, Agent Orange.”

They glare at each other for a second before Carmilla turns and starts heading towards the ladder on the wall. She hears Danny and Laura continue to talk as they follow slowly behind her.

Carmilla is close enough to them to hear Danny say, “Oh, don’t mind her, she’s just an asshole.”

***

“I bet I’m a better aim than you.” Danny says, sitting down next to between Carmilla and Laura but distancing herself from where Carmilla sits.

“I don’t care.” Carmilla says blankly, staring out at the group of lurchers lazily stumbling around. Their faces are blood-soaked and torn, exposing fleshy parts of bones, clothes ripped and limps ripped and eaten. The sight of them made Carmilla ill when she first saw one but after several months, you get used to it.

“You’re just saying that because you know I’m better.”

“No, I’m saying that because I don’t care.” Carmilla snaps back, keeping her eyes on the horizon. Carmilla often finds herself sitting on the wall or a rooftop gazing out at the sky.

In the night she admires the stunningly symmetrical glow of the moon and watches the charcoal shadows of tree’s dancing beautifully in the breeze. 

During a piercingly icy winters morning, Carmilla enjoys the soft singing of the birds. The fascinating melody comforts her as a warm, orange ray of sunlight would cast itself over the horizon. 

She finds comfort in the fact that, despite all the trauma that she has faced, she can always depend on the sun to cast itself over the forest in the morning, or the glistening stars to dance in the moonlight.

After a few minutes of silence, an echo of gunshots suddenly fills Carmilla’s ears. 

“What the fuck!” She shouts at Danny, who is now lowering her gun.

“Yeah, Danny, this doesn’t seem like a good idea…” Laura trails off. She’d stayed silent most of the time, however that was probably because between Carmilla and Danny’s bickering, she could barely get a word in.

Carmilla lunges for Danny’s gun and snatches it out of her hands, holding it away from her.

“What the hell? Give me that back!” Danny reaches out and tries to grab her gun back.

“You’re a fucking moron, Lawrence. You know that will attract lurchers from miles off.”

Carmilla can already hear the excited groans of the malignant creatures dragging their limbs across the grass towards them. They shout and beg for a taste of flesh, banging aggressively against the wall with eyes filled with fury. These are not humans anymore; they’re monsters.

“Danny, you’re going to push her off the wall,” Laura shouts as Carmilla is still holding the pistol just out of Danny’s reach. In one final attempt to snatch the gun, Danny accidentally smacks it clean out of Carmilla’s grip. They all watch helplessly as the pistol flies off the wall and onto the ground.

“Well done, Agent Orange; you want to volunteer to get that back?” Carmilla snarks.

“Shut up, Carmilla.”

Swinging her leg over the slight ledge on the wall, Carmilla prepares to climb over. She scans around for a second before spotting the gun in a long patch of grass. A huge cluster of lurchers have formed directly underneath Carmilla as they spot her hanging onto the ledge. One wrong move and Carmilla could end up right in the middle of it.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Laura whispers nervously. Carmilla looks up at her and shifts her hands to get a better grip.

“What does it look like I’m doing, cutie?” Carmilla says. “We can’t all get in trouble for losing a weapon because the giantess has an itchy trigger finger.”

Danny growls in response and grabs onto Carmilla’s arm before she can jump.

“Get off me, Lawrence.” She growls, but Danny doesn’t loosen her clutch around Carmilla’s arm.

“What are you going to do? Fling me off the wall as well?”

Before anyone can say anything else, a loud cold voice bellows from behind them.

“What on earth are you three doing?”

Carmilla looks down and sighs, “Fuck,” and suddenly the group of lurchers underneath her don’t look so unappealing.

***

“Miss Hollis, I thought that since I so kindly allowed you and your friends to live here that you would think to be better behaved.”

“Sorry, Ma'am. It was my fault.” Carmilla says, before Laura can speak.

“How could you be so irresponsible? I thought I taught you better than this, Carmilla?”

The three girls sit in silence in The Dean’s office, each one looking around or at their feet; looking at anything to avoid staring into those heartless dead eyes that sit in front of them.

“Miss Lawrence, you can forget about that promotion you wanted.”

Danny glares hardly at Carmilla before fixing her gaze back onto the floor.

“I expect each any everyone one of you up at 5am sharp. I’m signing you up for the supply run and if anything goes wrong I’m holding you each accountable. Do I make myself clear?” 

Silence.

“I said, Do I make myself clear?” A series of mumbles goes around the room.

“Miss Lawrence, Miss Hollis, you may leave.” Danny and Laura get up and leave while Carmilla remains seated, refusing to show any kind of fear. When the door slams shut, The Dean speaks,  

“I expect better from you, Carmilla; I did not raise you to be such an inconsiderate young girl. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated or the punishments will be much more severe. I did not want to leave such a negative impression on our new guest so you better apologise to her.”

Carmilla nods, unable to get a word in the entire time that her mother was talking.

“Now get out.” Carmilla hastily leaves, making sure to slam the door behind her. However, this results in a bowl falling off a nearby table and onto the floor.

“Carmilla, if you just knocked that off the table you are in serious trouble,” yells a voice from inside the office.

Carmilla curses under her breath but Laura speaks first,

“N-no, that was my fault, I knocked the table slightly as I walked past.”

“Well don’t do it again, Miss Hollis.”

“Laura Hollis…” Carmilla says, causing Laura to turn around and face her, “Sounds like some cheesy journalist name you find at the bottom of a school newspaper.”

“Um, I did write the school newspaper…” Laura says quietly, blushing slightly.

“I know, I’ve seen your work,” Carmilla winks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3! 
> 
> I know I said this last chapter however I'm still eternally grateful for all of the people who have given this fic a shot because we now have over 200hits! Thats pretty awesome so thank you!
> 
> Chapter 4 will be up on Friday 13th I think. I'm going to try make it longer than this one so I hope you like it when its out :))
> 
> Have a nice day! [or night, IDK your sleep schedules]
> 
> [EDIT:] Chapter 4 will be up later than anticipated due to exams and life. Sorry for the delay but I'll make it a good one.


	4. Closed Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang head out for a supply run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter and following chapters will include depictions of violence and gore.

After around an hour of trekking backwards and forwards from the supply lockers, collecting handfuls of guns, knives, bullets and an impressively terrifying looking assortments of other makeshift weapons; the gang finally finds a second to rest.

Laura’s ‘favourite’ weapon has to be the elongated spear with nails and sharp scraps of metal welded onto the point of the weapon. She has yet to begin to comprehend why someone would need such an excessively violent weapon. She sighs and puts the spear onto the table.

However, if carrying the painfully heavy weaponry across the entire camp wasn’t unpleasant enough, Laura now has to endure several hours of quarrelling from the rest of her group as they head across town.

“Kirsch, stop slamming the guns down unless you’re trying to break them or shoot someone’s legs off,” Danny huffs as Kirsch puts a shotgun onto the table. 

Kirsch frowns, “Come on, bro, I’m not even doing that. You’re just making it up now.”

Before another heated argument can take place Laura places herself between Danny and Kirsch as they glare at eachother.

Laura holds up her hands, “Please do not start another argument. It’s barely been an hour and you’ve managed to fight about everything.”

“Alright, sorry little-hottie, I’ll quit an… antag…” Kirsch fades off, attempting to find the end to his sentence when Danny, aggressively, says,

“You mean, antagonising and stop saying ‘hottie’. It’s so degrading.”

Laura sighs. She knows that this is supposed to be a punishment but the constant yelling and fighting is becoming tedious. How are they going to manage to work as a group while being attacked by walkers if they can barely act like grown-ups. 

Fortunately for Laura, the final member of their group, a boy named J.P walks in with a map. Laura still doesn't know what ‘J.P’ actually stands for as she has yet to talk to the mousey-haired boy but he seems friendly enough with his messy beard but surprisingly smart looking shirt and trousers. He also covers himself with a dark brown leatherjacket, kind of reminding Laura of Carmilla. 

Everyone gathers around the table, including a reluctant Carmilla who had refused to help carry the supplies and instead chose to sit in the corner and shoot daggers at anyone who dared too look at her.

“Okay, so I’ve mapped out the best route here in red pen.” J.P points to the line which takes a wobbly route through the edge of the town and loops around a block onto a short narrow street. 

“If we head here we can clear out the rest of the pharmacy and also head into the garage and see if there’s anything left.”

Another boy, Laura thinks she heard Kirsch call him Theo earlier, nods, “Alright, J.P, looks like we’re ready to go then,” he says, running a hand through his black hair. “Grab your things then and we’ll try and get there before sunrise.”

_Finally._

Laura quickly flings a small purple backpack over her shoulder and grabs a smaller pistol off the table along with a sizeable metallic knife. She slides it into some kind of dagger-holder which she couldn't hear the name of it due to the excessively loud arguing earlier but holds the gun tightly to her side. 

The rest of the crew gear up, each choosing a different surprisingly violent melee weapons and guns. As they stroll out of the shed, one behind the other with their weapons, Laura can’t help but think how similar they must look to characters in a strange fantasy video game. 

Theo calls out a chant, Laura still doesn’t know what he’s actually saying (pizza or death maybe?), to a guard on top of the wall and he and another guard pulls some chains and the large gate swings outwards, allowing them all to exit. It might be easier for them to get a more reasonable sized door for people but Laura guesses that the intimidating door might partly be for looks.

The journey towards the street with the pharmacy and garage wasn’t too far away from the camp but they chose to take a different route through the town in order to avoid the clusters of walkers. Everyone mostly stays quiet, much to Laura’s delight, with only a few “are we there yet”s and only one argument between Kirsch and Danny to which way they had to go. 

Each building they pass along the way seems to be completely abandoned with their windows either smashed in or partly boarded up. Laura assumes someone has already looted them, whether that be the people she was with or some other group. However, Laura hasn’t seen another group of survivors in months and sometimes she believed that there was no one else out there. In hindsight that was probably foolish considering the billions of people in the world but it’s easy to fall into a pit of fear and loneliness in a world like this. 

“Alright,” says J.P, pausing in the street and interrupting Laura’s train of thought, “this is the street right around the corner.”

Laura’s grip on the gun tightens and she lifts her hand slightly, bracing herself, but Danny moves her hand back down. 

“We can’t use guns, they’ll draw the dead out for miles.” 

Laura mentally face-palms. Of course she couldn’t use a gun, she knew this. Internally, she groans at the terrible first impression she seems to be making and puts her gun into her pocket and takes out the elongated dagger. 

One by one, the group take out their weapons, each opting for a different one. While Danny grips her baseball bat, Kirsch wields a lengthy spear with a metal spike on the end. J.P holds a crossbow as Carmilla prepares herself with a fearsome machete. They all look highly menacing but Laura silently thinks they all look very badass.

“Okay, let’s go,” he says. Muted groans can be heard from around the corner and Laura suddenly feels very uneasy. Things had been going well so far and she couldn’t help but worry about everything that could go wrong.

“Be quiet.” Theo adds and leads the group around the corner. 

The street is covered in discarded cars and shattered glass coats the pavements and road. Groaning is still heard from somewhere on the street resulting in Laura clutching her dagger tighter.

From a first glance the area seems to be empty but soon Laura spots a few walkers stalking around inside of a nearby shop, knocking over the displays by tripping over their own feet. 

She continues to scan the area. The street isn’t very long and the left side simply displays the backs of the derelict buildings on the adjacent street. The other displays a row of various different commercial buildings including: a two-story pharmacy which sat on the corner with all of the ground floor windows are boarded, a garage with a large blue sign on the flat concrete roof reading ‘HOWES’ in large red letters and a small brick grocery store with its door torn clean off its hinges.

“Alright, we need to split up if we’re going to finish and get back to Silas quickly.” Danny says. Blinding rays of sunlight were beginning to peer over the horizon now, casting towering shadows across the road.

“Mel, Theo and I can take the lurkers in the grocery store so J.P, you can go with-“

Danny is cut quickly off by Kirsch, “Oh, I can go with him into the garage. I’ve been meaning to take a look at that old car again.”

Danny glares at him but Kirsch seems to be oblivious to her as he shoots a lopsided grin towards J.P. 

Laura then realises who she was going to be stuck with. This, however, does give a reason why Danny seems as if she’s going to decapitate Kirsch. Laura turns to her right to see Carmilla, arms folded across her dark leather jacket, smirking.

_Great._

Carmilla waltzes up to Laura who is now frowning slightly.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me again, creampuff.”

Everyone splits off into their groups and Laura follows Carmilla, making sure to leave a couple of feet between them, into the pharmacy. Upon closer inspection, Laura realises that the second story of the building was probably a home at one point. She feels a twinge in her chest as her mind briefly thinks of her dad. That thought is quickly pushed aside, however, and Laura enters the store. 

Smashed bottles and empty boxes make the white and blue tiled floor almost impossible to see. The majority of the store has already been completely emptied, probably in the first week or so due to the state it was in. Shelves have been pushed onto the floor, all the medicine is gone and a cash register is crumpled against a wall.

“What exactly are we looking for here?” Laura asks, picking up yet another empty box of medicine. Carmilla lifts her head from behind a shelving unit and smirks.

“We’re in the middle of a pharmacy, Lauronica Mars. What do you think we’re looking for?”  
Laura glares at her in response. 

“Everything has already been taken, I mean, look at all off this garbage.” Laura kicks some bottles to the side just to emphasise her point.

“Well, if you used your eyes, you know, those round things in your head that make you see things-“ Carmilla pauses to check if Laura is getting more infuriated. She was.

“You’d see that the office back there still has a lock on it which means we need a key to get in there.”

Laura hums and heads over the locked office door where Carmilla now stands. She bends down and examines the lock. It seems sightly battered in but they can’t break the door down without making too much noise.

Laura reaches into her pocket and pulls out two hairpins. She bends one around until the ends touch and snaps the end off of the other. She then bends the snapped pin slightly upwards by putting it into the lock.

Carmilla raises an eyebrow as she sees what Laura is doing. 

“There’s no way that you know how to pick a lock, cutie.”

Laura looks up at her. “You know, you shouldn’t keep doubting me. I know what I’m doing.”

She looks back at the door and puts the pin into the lock and holds it steadily with one hand while the other pin acts as a pick. Laura slowly jiggles the pin around before pushing up one of the tumblers, causing a click. She then pushes up the other tumblers to the same height and turns the lower pin. Again, the lock clicks but louder this time and Laura smiles in triumph. 

“See, I told you I knew what I was doing.” Laura is now the one to smirk as Carmilla stares at her slightly dumbfounded.

She stands up and pushes the dirty white door to the office open and walks in. The tiled floor continues into the small office but the walls in here are covered in an ugly grey wallpaper with in small flowers compared to the white paint in the main shop. Across on the far wall, next to a small desk and chair, is a small shelf stocked with medicines, pills and bandages. 

Laura quickly makes her way towards the medicine, completely walking past the creature that is now shuffling out from behind the door. Too engrossed starting the pack things into her bag,

Laura is still unaware of the quickly approaching walker.

It suddenly makes a groan of delight at the thought of a taste of flesh and Laura spins around just in time to plunge her dagger up the creatures fleshy jaw and into its skull. It gurgles in pain before Laura pushes it away and it crumples to the floor, leaving a messy pool of blood.  
Carmilla walks in and stares at Laura sitting on the floor covered in a dark sticky substance, still holding her crimson blade. 

“Oh shit, are you okay?” Carmilla’s voice differs from her regular sarcasm coated tone and she instead sounds concerned. 

Laura nods.

She then goes back to quickly packing everything in reach into her purple bag. Carmilla appears by her side and mimics her actions until a couple of minutes later when the pair have completely emptied the room into their bags. 

“We should probably go back outside and check on the others now.” Laura suggests as the pair head towards the door. 

They walk around the counter making sure they’ve collected everything of any use. Laura crouches down and peers under the counter at a few boxes she missed on the way in.

“Look out!” Carmilla skids around the corner and smashes the creatures head against the counter just as it's about to sink its teeth into Laura. She stares at Carmilla in disbelief for a second or so before mumbling a thanks.

“Don’t mention it, cutie.”

The brief moment is swiftly interrupted by a series of gunshots and panicked shouts from outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm sorry for the delay I've been very busy but I'll try to upload a lot more.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. I know this chapter is shorter than the others but I wanted to leave it on that cliff hanger so you have to wait until the next chapter to see what happens.
> 
> Also I had to look up 'how to pick a lock' for this chapter and I think my family may now believe I'm a criminal.
> 
> If you want to chat my tumblr is at: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/what-thefuck-isthis


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